Jimmy Wilde

Jimmy Wilde (The Mighty Atom) was born in the mining community of Tylorstown, Wales on May 15th 1892. As a teenager he would join the family tradition of working down the Coal mining pits, however the young Jimmy soon realised he had a knack for fighting while taking part in the travelling fighting booths that where set up in the welsh valleys.

His formal career began the end of 1910, the following year he fought 28 bouts, winning 27 and drawing the other. The Welshman had phenomenal power this was evident early on as he won 22 of these fights inside the distance, unusual for a man of his size.

Most of his fights where in the valleys and he struggled to be noticed forcing him to travel to London. He had one bout there but none of the promoters would take give him a chance due to his size, they feared being accused of bad matchmaking, which would have dented their reputation.

Wilde returned home and over the next couple of years built up an impressive record of 81-0-1 (55), promoters finally took recognition after his sixth round stoppage of Frenchman Eugene on March 14th 1914, earning himself a chance to challenge for the British and European titles. Wilde failed in his attempt against Scot, Tancy Lee. Wilde took a sever beating until his corner finally threw in the towel in the seventeenth round, his camp claimed their man was suffering severely from the flu but did not want to pass up the opportunity.

The loss was to his advantage as others witnessed the beating and it opened the door to a world title fight, thinking the Welshman was vulnerable a fight for the British and World title was agreed on Valentines Day 1916, against Joe Symonds. The Englishman could not cope with Wilde’s power and the fight was stopped in round twelve.

The new champion made one defence before setting his sights on the only man to have beaten him, Tancyy Lee. The champion claimed to have been ill during their first encounter proved to be true as he dominated until the referee stopped the contest in the eleventh, the Welshman had now avenged the only blemish on his record. Over the next two years he successfully defended his title four times, (winning them all inside the distance), including an eleventh round knockout of American, Young Zulu Kid. It would be five years before another title fight due to the War.

In 1920, Wilde embarked on a tour fighting at exhibitions in Canada and America before returning home to fight former Bantamweight champion Pete Herman. The fight was a non-title bout and Herman came into the fight way over the agreed weight, nevertheless everything was in place and the fight went ahead. Wilde had to be saved in the seventeenth round from the visibly larger man and took months to recover. He remained inactive for two years before agreeing to defend his title in 1923 against Filipino, Pancho Villa in New York. The champion took a severe beating before being knocked out in the seventh; such was the defeat Wilde never fought again.

In his later years, Jimmy Wile became a boxing correspondent for a British Sunday newspaper. As an elderly man (aged 72), Jimmy was attacked and beaten by a gang of cowardly thugs in Cardiff, Wales. He lived the remainder of his life oblivious to what he had accomplished in the ring. He died on 10th March 1969.

Wilde claimed to have fought over 850 fights in total, he will be remembered as arguably one of the best flyweights of all time, if not he was unquestionably the hardest hitting, his record speaks volumes for a man who weighed no more than 102 lbs.